Apple Thoughts: Google Updates Calendar and G-Mail for iPhone

"Today we're introducing a major revision to Gmail for mobile that takes advantage of the latest browser technology available on iPhone and Android devices. We've updated the user interface, made it faster to open messages, allowed for batch actions (like archiving multiple messages at once), and added some basic offline support Despite the advent of 3G networks and wifi, smartphones still lack a high-speed, always-on broadband connection and can have connections far less reliable than their desktop brethren. So, just like when we redesigned the Gmail for mobile client app last October, we've gone back to the drawing board and redesigned Gmail for the mobile browser to overcome some of these limitations. We made performance more consistent, regardless of connection type, and laid the foundation for future improvements."

My mobile life and most of my desktop revolve around Google services included G-Mail and Google Reader. When it comes the iPhone, I've always used the built-in mail client for my G-Mail access, but I've always preferred G-Mail native clients like their mobile Java one for feature phones and smart phones. That being said, the new web version is so good you may be willing to part with your integrated clients altogether. It's fast, looks great, works perfectly, and gives you all the functionality you've come to know and love from G-Mail. They've done some nifty caching stuff to compensate for the general instability of a cellular data connection and it makes a huge difference over previous versions of G-Mail mobile.

It may not be for everyone, but you should give it a look. You might be surprised at how good it actually is.